We have already said on these pages that opponents of Mayor Gavin Buckley’s bike path should be patient. The mayor was clear about making changes, and the loss of 36 parking spaces for a short time does not seem like the end of Annapolis as we know it.

The mayor’s plans for purchasing street furniture and expediting liquor licenses for businesses that wish to use them comes as something of as a surprise, but also fits with the mayor’s vision as expressed in his campaign.

Before we are accused of refusing to see the mayor’s shortcomings, we point out that we also have used this space to caution Buckley that he is in danger of using up all the goodwill with which he entered office unless he learns to build consensus.

None of his proposals is, by themselves, evidence of anything untoward except a certain arrogance. That must change if the mayor expects to accomplish much over the next three years.

We repeat here words we published in August as a reminder to a mayor we endorsed: Buckley can’t bull through his proposed changes, or maybe he can. But the outcome will be far more lasting if he can win buy-in to the concept from various stakeholders.

Leadership is more than just having a vision. Buckley has to convince his city to join him on the journey.

So far, at least on this project, he is failing this test. There is time to reverse this failing, and still accomplish his goals. But that time is in large part determined by goodwill.

Bravery and honor know no political party and rise above the petty distractions of the day.

For that reason, Annapolis should be deeply proud to host the convention of Medal of Honor recipients this week.

Among the 44 recipients of the nation’s highest military honor will be Lt. Thomas R. Norris, a retired Navy SEAL who was awarded the medal for valor during the rescue of two downed pilots in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam in April 1972. He accomplished the rescue with Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet, a Vietnamese commando.

In that long-ago war, Norris was one of the few remaining SEALS in Vietnam. U.S. troops were still there in an advisory capacity, but South Vietnam was just a few years from being overrun by its North Vietnamese enemy.

After repeated attempts to rescue Lt.Col. Iceal Hambleton resulted in failure, death and additional captures, Norris and Kiet led a group of Vietnamese Sea Commandos and eventually rescued two of the three downed aviators. A third was killed.

Norris was awarded the medal in 1975, and the mission was eventually dramatized in the movie “Bat*21.”

Thank you, sir, for your service. And thank you to all recipients of the medal attending the convention this year.